Porch Redo and a Lego Birthday

I've been pondering the idea of painting my wicker porch chairs black, and it finally got the best of me. I took the plunge, and now I'm wondering why I waited so long. I'm really loving it with the freshly recovered houndstooth pillows. The Alabama fan in me is subtly popping out. Ok, that word, subtly, just looks so weird. That IS the right way to spell it, right? Or did spell checker just fail me... 

Anyhoo...moving along.

Here's a shot of the porch before I got the itchy spray paint finger...

And here she is now.

I was tickled pink to find the porch swing on craigslist for a mere 30$! My hubby was less than tickled about hanging the said bargain swing. What started out as a simple hang-up-a-swing project turned into a discovery of lots of rotten wood, pulling it out, and repairing it project. Good times, I tell ya. 

 The newly painted chairs are *subtly* sporting a touch of Alabama pride, too. 

I'm well aware that the wicker is totally falling apart. But a few cans of Krylon fit in the budget much better than new porch furnishings at this time. Maybe next spring...

Those of you that know me, and my flip-flop-wearin' summer-lovin' self, will be so proud to know that I actually planted some fall flowers. Go, me! Baby steps, people. Soooo hard to let go of warm weather...

 After a trip to the pumpkin patch, we brought home our pumpkins and had a paint party. I painted mine white to go in the ORB planters.

We got a little more creative with some of the others...

Thanks to pinterest for the fun idea!

 Jackson and I had birthdays last week. We celebrated with a little lego party, per his request. He wanted lego star wars, but we made a compromise and settled for just plain legos instead. Whew. I had a hard enough time making a regular old lego cake - not so sure how I would have fared with the star wars. 

He was pretty happy with it, so it was worth the effort ;) Actually, I kinda had fun playing with the fondant. It was my first time, and I must say it's rather addicting! All I need is another hobby. You know, for all my spare time...sigh...

Jackson turned 8, and Mommy turned thirty-something. 

But who's counting?!?

The Parsonage. Part Five.

The Office.

I love this little room. 

(It was supposed to be MY room...

until the little guys discovered all the fun and games on lego.com.  *sigh*...I'm learning to share.) 

It did have a rather humble beginning. Complete with dark paneling,  rusty orange colored carpet, and a terribly warped ceiling fan that we nearly knocked off every time we opened the back door. Who hangs a ceiling fan right in front of a door?! But it's all good, because it was a great excuse to get the cutesy little chandy to replace it! And now the door opens free and clear without banging a thing. Score.

I painted the walls "Rainwashed" from Sherwin Williams. LOVE that color. We also ripped up the carpet to expose the hardwoods. The hardwood is very old and worn and really should be refinished, but I like it. Yeah, I'm weird like that.

The chalkboard is an old cabinet door that I painted, and the memo board is made from an old thrifted picture. Some folks fix everything with duck tape. Me? I use paint and burlap. Works every time.